Haryana mc pollNo truck with BJP: HJC
Karnal/Panipat, May 15
With the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) deciding not to contest the Municipal Corporation poll on party symbol and allowing the party men to contest the elections as independent candidates, the battlefield is becoming sticky for the BJP, making an all-out effort to establish its supremacy in the urban areas ahead of Lok Sabha and Assembly poll.

Cong posters to project central leaders
Chandigarh, May 15
By deciding against contesting the June 2 Municipal Corporation elections on its party symbol, the party might have left the door open for “like-minded” winners, but the party is unlikely to leave the field clear for Opposition parties contesting on their party symbols.

INLD smells rat in concessions to SEZ developers
Chandigarh, May 15
The INLD today sought to put the Hooda government on the mat on the issue of amendments to the policy governing special economic zones (SEZs) which granted certain concessions to developers.

INLD workers protest in Gurgaon on Wednesday against the government for not returning to farmers land surrendered by Reliance. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed

New HCS nomination policyACRs to be the deciding factor
Chandigarh, May 15
The prestigious Haryana Civil Services (HCS) will no longer be a dumping ground for the favourites of the political bosses and below-average officials. In a development that would go a long way in the nomination of the eligible meritorious officials to the
HCS, the Haryana Government has framed a new policy containing “rational and transparent” criteria for recommending the names of the eligible officials to the executive branch of the
HCS.

Tension flares up in Pabnawa village again
Kaithal, May 15
Tension flared up at Pabnawa village of Kaithal when two Dalit boys, Ram Mehar and Sunil, were allegedly thrashed by some youths of another community late last evening. The village had earlier witnessed violence on April 13. Ram
Mehar, who was seriously injured, had to be rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh.

Dalits of Pabnawa village protest in Kaithal on Wednesday. Tribune photo

Day after, 50 more kids taken ill in 2 villages
Fatehabad, May 15
A day after 20 schoolchildren complained of nausea, vomiting and loose motions after taking iron and folic acid tablets supplied by the Health Department, nearly 50 more children were taken ill in Burj and Bhunderwas villages of Fatehabad today.The schoolchildren, who were taken ill after consuming iron tablets, undergo treatment at the Community Health Centre in Ratia on Wednesday. Photo: Sushil Manav

INLD seeks judicial probe into Karontha firing
Chandigarh, May 15
Blaming the Hooda government for its failure to maintain law and order in the state, the INLD today demanded its dismissal, besides a judicial inquiry into the Karontha firing.

Concessionaire not paying dues, allege KMP contractors
Gurgaon, May 15
A number of contractors engaged by KMP Expressway concessionaire DSC Ltd for construction work on the expressway have alleged that the company is not paying their dues running into crores of rupees. The contractors said they had been running from pillar to post to get their dues for more than a year.

Couple, kin held for murder
Fatehabad, May 15
The police has solved the mystery behind the death of villager Ram Kumar Bishnoi at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad, whose crushed body was found on a road giving it the look of a road accident.

Two months on, rape victim’s father awaits justice
Bhiwani, May 15
A Dalit from Bawani Khera in Bhiwani has been running from pillar to post for the arrest of an upper caste man, who allegedly raped his 14-year-old girl on March 13. The victim’s father alleged the police was trying to suppress his voice rather than arresting the accused.

Youth booked for abduction
Rewari, May 15
A migrant youth of Kota (Rajasthan) allegedly lured a teenaged daughter of a migrant labourer of Jodhpur (Rajasthan) from Padaiyawas village, near here, on Monday.

Critically ill newborn left in hospital, dies
Fatehabad, May 15
A woman today went to the General Hospital at Fatehabad with a newborn baby girl, who, she said, was critically ill and by the time the doctor on emergency duty came to attend the baby, she disappeared, leaving the baby there.
The newborn later died.

Nursing students protest against Principal
Karnal, May 15
Levelling allegations of misbehaviour against the Principal of Nursing College situated in the Civil Hospital here, about 80 students of four batches today held a protest march from the Civil Hospital to Panchayat Bhawan and submitted a memorandum to the DC, seeking transfer of the Principal.

Tainted ASI dismissed
Chandigarh, May 15
The Haryana Police today dismissed ASI Jagdish Ram of 1st Battalion, HAP Ambala, posted at the Chief Minister's
residence, who was caught taking a bribe yesterday. Subsequent to the registration of an FIR by the Vigilance Bureau, Chandigarh, yesterday in a corruption case involving certain Haryana police officials, strict action had been initiated against the accused.

Burglary in judge’s house
Hisar, May 15
Miscreants broke into the official residence of a judge late on Tuesday evening and took away a laptop and some other belongings.
The police has registered a case. The judge was away due to vacations when the incident occurred.

Teacher's eligibility test postponed
Bhiwani, May 15
The Board of School Education, Haryana, has postponed the Haryana Teacher's Eligibility Tests (HTET) in view of the June 2 poll to seven municipal corporations in
Haryana. The HTET, which was scheduled to be held on June 1 and 2, would now be held on June 25 and 26.

B.Ed counselling
Sirsa, May 15
Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, has been entrusted with the job of central online counselling for admission to the B. Ed course in colleges of Haryana this
year. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr ML Ranga, said it was for the first time that this job had been entrusted to Chaudhary Devi Lal
University.

Karnal/Panipat, May 15
With the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) deciding not to contest the Municipal Corporation poll on party symbol and allowing the party men to contest the elections as independent candidates, the battlefield is becoming sticky for the BJP, making an all-out effort to establish its supremacy in the urban areas ahead of Lok Sabha and Assembly poll.

"The alliance with the BJP is confined to the Assembly and Lok Sabha poll and there is no alliance for the MC poll and the party will not take any action against the party men entering the fray as independents", HJC leader Rakesh Kamboj today said.

The BJP had announced contesting elections to all 20 wards in Karnal and 24 wards in Panipat.

Chandigarh, May 15
By deciding against contesting the June 2 Municipal Corporation elections on its party symbol, the party might have left the door open for “like-minded” winners, but the party is unlikely to leave the field clear for Opposition parties contesting on their party symbols.

Though the party will not officially field any candidates, the politics of posters is giving the party leadership the jitters. Sources said MPs and MLAs of the newly constituted corporations that go to the polls had been asked to advise the like-minded candidates to project the central leadership.

Sources said the it would check a spill-over of the factionalism within local units, leading to a contest among Congressmen rather than the candidates in the fray.

Since the opposition parties, the INLD and the BJP, are treating this election as a precursor to the next year’s parliamentary and assembly elections, the Congress does not want to take any chance as far as winnability of like-minded candidates is concerned.

The sources said the party high command, wary of the poster-war the local elections could trigger, had decided to rely on the central leadership to help it sail through the choppy waters of factionalism.

“There is unanimity among the local workers in districts on this issue. This collective belongingness of the party’s central leaders like UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is the best alternative to avoid a ‘loyalty war’ at the local level,” a senior party leader said.

While the decision to not to contest the elections on party symbol has been attributed to the short notice, it seems a well thought out party strategy.

“We have left this election open to all those candidates who want to contest it, neither reposing faith in a particular candidate, nor denying the same to any other,” a leader maintained.

Also, by not contesting the election on its symbol, the party thinks it stands to gain. Like a senior party leader puts it, “Those who win on the INLD ticket are theirs, those who contest the elections on the BJP’s symbol will go to them. The rest, obviously, are all ours.”

Chandigarh, May 15
The INLD today sought to put the Hooda government on the mat on the issue of amendments to the policy governing special economic zones (SEZs) which granted certain concessions to developers.

Smelling rat in the policy changes which would benefit major industrial houses, INLD’s Ellenabad MLA Abhay Chautala trained his guns at Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda alleging that a mammoth fraud had been played on poor farmers whose land was bought by big industrialists at cheap rates in connivance with the state government.

“If an inquiry is conducted by a Supreme Court Judge , a scam worth thousands of crores would surface and Hooda would be unable to explain the taking away of thousands of acres of fertile land ,” Chautala told The Tribune here today.

He alleged that the Hooda Government tweaked the policies, including amendements to various Acts governing land ownership, to suit big industrial houses. “While the farmers can own only 18 acres under the Land Consolidation Act, industrial houses had been allowed to own thousands of acres in prime areas such as the national capital region(NCR) by amending rules,” he alleged.

He declared that SEZs' land would be returned to farmers if the INLD came to the power in next year’s assembly elections.

The Haryana government recently rolled out a new policy framework allowing developers to use land locked up in SEZ projects for setting up 'Industrial Colony' or 'Cyber City' as a one-time measure to attract investments. As per the amendments in the policy for grant of Industrial Colony License by the Town and Country Planning Department, 35 per cent area would be kept for road, infrastructure and open space, 65 per cent area would be for plotting. Of 65 per cent, 45 per cent would be used for industrial purposes and 15 per cent for housing.

Chautalaspeak

Concessions to SEZ developers a mammoth fraud

SC Judge should probe the acquisition/buying of land for SEZs

Concessions would be misused to launch residential, industrial projects

Chandigarh, May 15
The prestigious Haryana Civil Services (HCS) will no longer be a dumping ground for the favourites of the political bosses and below-average officials. In a development that would go a long way in the nomination of the eligible meritorious officials to the HCS, the Haryana Government has framed a new policy containing “rational and transparent” criteria for recommending the names of the eligible officials to the executive branch of the HCS.

Under the new policy, candidates’ service records, including the annual confidential reports (ACRs), relevant experience, academic achievements and other professional achievements would play a deciding role in the nomination to the HCS."The maximum age limit for the nomination has been restricted to 45 years," sources said. In fact, the government has now earmarked different scores for various criteria on which the candidates are to be recommended by the department concerned.

The service record with special reference to the ACRs would account for 70 per cent marks out of a total of 100 marks. Similarly, relevant experience, academic achievements and other professional achievements would command 10 per cent weightage each under the new policy aimed at ensuring transparency in the nomination of the state government officials to the HCS.

For nomination to the HCS, the candidate should be at least six ACRs of “very good” category and two ACRs of "not less than good” category during the past eight years. The department would assign 8.75 marks for “outstanding”, 7 marks for “very good” and 5 marks for “good” grading for each ACR.

The much sought-after nominations to the HCS is made on the recommendation of a three-member committee headed by the state Chief Secretary from three categories according to the provisions of Haryana Civil Services (Executive Branch) Rules, 2008. Officials of the rank of the District Revenue Officers and the Tehsildars are nominated under the Category I (Register A-I) while members of the Group “C” services are nominated under the Category II (Register A-II). Under the Category III (Register C), the District Development and Panchayat Officers and the Block Development and Panchayat Officers are recommended for nomination.The department concerned prepared a list of eligible candidates not more than five times the number of vacancies to be submitted to the committee. The committee, in turn, prepared a list, equal to twice the number of vacancies, in the order of the merit.

The HPSC finally recommended the names of the most-suitable candidates.

Kaithal, May 15
Tension flared up at Pabnawa village of Kaithal when two Dalit boys, Ram Mehar and Sunil, were allegedly thrashed by some youths of another community late last evening. The village had earlier witnessed violence on April 13. Ram
Mehar, who was seriously injured, had to be rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh.

To protest against Tuesday’s incident, the Dalit community organised a procession in Kaithal today. The protesters assembled at the Jawahar Park and raised slogans against the government and marched towards the mini-secretariat. They sat on the road outside the mini-secretariat and disrupted traffic. Later, they submitted a memorandum to Deputy Superintendent of Police Surinder Singh who assured them that the culprits would be arrested soon. Three women protesters became unconscious during the protest and had to be admitted to a hospital.

The main grievance of the protesters was that the policemen posted in the village did not intervene when the victims were being thrashed by youths. A committee was constituted to chalk out the strategy to deal with the situation. The members demanded that 12 persons involved in the attack last evening and 400 persons already named in the April 13 violence case be arrested. They also demanded security for their kin. The DSP promised security to them and told that six teams had been constituted to arrest the culprits.

Fatehabad, May 15
A day after 20 schoolchildren complained of nausea, vomiting and loose motions after taking iron and folic acid tablets supplied by the Health Department, nearly 50 more children were taken ill in Burj and Bhunderwas villages of Fatehabad today.

Dr VK Jain, Senior Medical Officer of the Community Health Centre, Ratia, confirmed that 30 children were brought to him for treatment.

Many others were provided first-aid in their schools.

Dr Jain said seven children needed admission and out of these four were discharged by the evening.

He said three children were being given intravenous drips in the CHC for vomiting and loose motions.

Under the Indira Bal Swasthya Yojna (IBSY) of the government, the Health Department has started giving the tablets to schoolchildren from Class VI to XII on every Monday. As many as 20 schoolchildren had taken ill at Bhunderwas on the first day of the drive that began on May 13.

Yamunanagar, May 15
Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited (HPGCL) engineers have opposed the out-of-turn promotions given to engineers on transfer to the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB).

The HPGCL engineers have alleged that the BBMB management was manipulating the rules and running the organisation for their personal interest. The BBMB had recently promoted three Assistant Executive Engineers to the post of Executive Engineers without taking into consideration their seniority and by overriding the service regulations of the HPGCL.

It was further alleged that the BBMB rejected the application of the HPGCL engineers for the post of Superintending Engineers. Last year, the BBMB recommended the extension in service to retiring Chief Engineer (transmission), which was legally challenged and was still pending in the high court.

The engineers said the idea behind promoting the JEs to AEs was to create own cadre of officials of the BBMB, without any prior approval of its board members. There was a huge resentment among the HPGCL engineers against these violations in share quota post and regulations of Haryana.

Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of the Haryana utilities decided in its last meeting that in the BBMB, 75 per cent share quota posts would go to the HPGCL cadre and balance 25 per cent posts to the HVPN cadre.

Chandigarh, May 15
Blaming the Hooda government for its failure to maintain law and order in the state, the INLD today demanded its dismissal, besides a judicial inquiry into the Karontha firing.

Party MLAs, led by Abhay Chautala, MLA from Ellenabad and state unit president Ashok Arora, submitted a memorandum to Governor Jagannath Pahadia demanding immediate dismmisal of the Hooda Government for collapse of law and order in the state.

Earlier, at a press conference here, Chautala blamed Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his MP son, Deepinder Hooda, for the the Karontha incident in which four persons were killed and over 80 injured.,

Alleging that corruption had surpassed all records, he alleged that an ASI, posted at Chief Minister's residence, was yesterday caught taking a bribe. About the MC elections,Chautala claimed that sensing defeat the Congress had not been able to muster courage and contest the elections.

Gurgaon, May 15
A number of contractors engaged by KMP Expressway concessionaire DSC Ltd for construction work on the expressway have alleged that the company is not paying their dues running into crores of rupees. The contractors said they had been running from pillar to post to get their dues for more than a year.

"We have tried everything to clear our dues and staging a demonstration and approaching the authorities concerned at the local, state and national levels, but the company is not paying any heed to our repeated requests," they maintained.

The contractors had also lodged a complaint with the economic offences wing (EOW) but they were yet to get a positive outcome.

Curiously, while officials concerned of the EOW and DSC Ltd assert that company vice-president (coordination) VK Malik had met the contractors, the contractors maintain that no representative of the company had come to meet them as yet. Contractors Dharamvir and Jitender Yadav have even threatened to commit self-immolation in front of the Gurgaon Police Commissioner's office on May 23 if their dues are not settled by then.

Fatehabad, May 15
The police has solved the mystery behind the death of villager Ram Kumar Bishnoi at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad, whose crushed body was found on a road giving it the look of a road accident.

Investigations by the police have revealed that the victim was murdered by crushing him under a tractor and then his body was thrown on the road to confuse the police.

When the police recovered the body on May 12, it appeared that it was a case of road accident.

"However, a team of the police that visited the spot found that though Bishnoi had died of injuries, there was no evidence of the accident having occurred at the place where the body was recovered," said Shamsher Singh Dahiya, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), Fatehabad.

When the police quizzed some villagers on the basis of suspicion, the real story came out. It came out during investigations that Ram Kumar Bishnoi had illicit relations with a married woman and on the fateful night, he went to her house in an inebriated condition.

The woman's husband Ram Phal found him and his own wife in a compromising position and out of rage, he crushed Bishnoi under his tractor when he was leaving for his house. On the basis of interrogation of the accused, the police has booked Ram Phal, his wife and a sister-in-law for murder.

Bhiwani, May 15
A Dalit from Bawani Khera in Bhiwani has been running from pillar to post for the arrest of an upper caste man, who allegedly raped his 14-year-old girl on March 13. The victim’s father alleged the police was trying to suppress his voice rather than arresting the accused.

He alleged that the police initially had registered only a case of molestation against the accused.

The soft police action , he alleged, emboldened the accused, who beat up the victim’s father for “daring” to approach the police. The case of rape was registered only after he approached senior police officers.

“Over a month has passed since then but the police has not so far arrested the accused,” the victim’s father rued. However, Devender Nain, SHO, Bawani Khera police station, maintained that the girl had initially alleged molestation by Tinku and another person. The police had arrested the accused but they were later released on bail.

“The girl later alleged that she was raped after which a case under Section 376, IPC, was registered,” Nain maintained. In the meantime, Tinku, who had got a job in the BSF, joined duty at his place of posting, he added. The SHO said Tinku had been asked to join investigation.

Rewari, May 15
A migrant youth of Kota (Rajasthan) allegedly lured a teenaged daughter of a migrant labourer of Jodhpur (Rajasthan) from Padaiyawas village, near here, on Monday.

When the girl’s parents failed to trace their daughter, they filed a complaint last evening following which the Model Town police has registered a case of abduction against Aughar. Sources said when these migrant labourers were living in hutments at the village, Aughar had developed intimacy with the girl and eloped with her on Monday.
— OC

Fatehabad, May 15
A woman today went to the General Hospital at Fatehabad with a newborn baby girl, who, she said, was critically ill and by the time the doctor on emergency duty came to attend the baby, she disappeared, leaving the baby there.
The newborn later died.

The hospital authorities informed the police. Hospital Medical Superintendent Mukta Kumar said the newborn was brought to the hospital in a critical condition.

Hospital sources said a woman in her early twenties approached a doctor sitting in the emergency with a newborn baby and said her daughter was critically ill.

Witnesses said two other persons also accompanied the woman.

When the doctor, who was on duty in the emergency, went to the nursery to examine her, the woman and her companions disappeared.

The doctor said while examining the child, he found that umbilical chord of the child had been tied in an amateurish manner giving the impression that some untrained person had conducted the delivery.

Doctors said only the post-mortem would reveal whether it was a case of stillborn delivery or death after birth.

Karnal, May 15
Levelling allegations of misbehaviour against the Principal of Nursing College situated in the Civil Hospital here, about 80 students of four batches today held a protest march from the Civil Hospital to Panchayat Bhawan and submitted a memorandum to the DC, seeking transfer of the Principal.

The protesting students alleged that Principal Shashi Sharma was habitual of using abusive language, making offensive remarks and humiliating them and their parents.

However, the Principal rubbished the allegations and said that it was conspiracy to malign her image as she was strict in maintaining discipline.

A three-member inquiry committee had been constituted by the authorities to look into the complaints of the students but the students have started protest even before the inquiry was started, said a doctor.

Chandigarh, May 15
The Haryana Police today dismissed ASI Jagdish Ram of 1st Battalion, HAP Ambala, posted at the Chief Minister's
residence, who was caught taking a bribe yesterday. Subsequent to the registration of an FIR by the Vigilance Bureau, Chandigarh, yesterday in a corruption case involving certain Haryana police officials, strict action had been initiated against the accused.

ASI Jitender Kumar of, Seewan police station (Kaithal), has been placed under suspension and sent to the Police Lines. Kaithal CIA Inspector Raj Kumar has also been sent to the Police Lines, Kaithal.

Hisar, May 15
Miscreants broke into the official residence of a judge late on Tuesday evening and took away a laptop and some other belongings.
The police has registered a case. The judge was away due to vacations when the incident occurred.

The caretaker of the house said he had checked the lock around 2.30 pm and found it intact.

However, when he went to the house again at 6.30 pm to switch on some lights, he found the lock on the door broken.

The caretaker went to the neighbouring house and informed the matter to another judge living there.

Later, in his complaint lodged with the police, the caretaker alleged that some persons had stolen the laptop and some other belongings of the judge.

Bhiwani, May 15
The Board of School Education, Haryana, has postponed the Haryana Teacher's Eligibility Tests (HTET) in view of the June 2 poll to seven municipal corporations in
Haryana. The HTET, which was scheduled to be held on June 1 and 2, would now be held on June 25 and 26.

A spokesman said that in accordance with the interim decision taken by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), the Department of Secondary Education had also approved the proposal to revise the HTET duration from 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes.

The new schedule of examinations had been set according to the NCTE decision.

Sirsa, May 15
Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, has been entrusted with the job of central online counselling for admission to the B. Ed course in colleges of Haryana this
year. The Vice-Chancellor, Dr ML Ranga, said it was for the first time that this job had been entrusted to Chaudhary Devi Lal
University.

Dr Manoj Siwach, Registrar, said the university would soon release online applications for the admissions to the B Ed
course.